[locohost]

I have 3.4GHz Dual Core machine with the Zotac NVidia 8400GS 512MB VDPAU card. It's hooked to a 61" Samsung LED DLP 1080p TV. I setup my XBMC box using the instructions at http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=XBMCbuntu. I also followed JumJums procedures and ran his script.

So XBMC loads and runs fine but I'm having a strange issue with 1080p playback. Aren't we all? The video starts playing really smooth. I can see the VDPAU is running fine. The CPUs are barely working. However, the fps begins to drop from 23.5 to 25 (roughly, mostly right at 23.98 and 24) after a few minutes of smooth playback. It drops down to 12.00 to 14.00 or so fps. And of course with the unsteady fps, the pictures stutters.

Here is my log file...

http://pastebin.com/4z5KsQQU

You can look down a bit to where the "Splice" movie starts playing.


I'm well in the weeds with this I'd sure appreciate your expert advice

Thanks everyone,

Mark

[cowfodder]

Enable debug logging.

[locohost]

Enable debug logging.

How do I do that? Is that an XBMC setting?

[cowfodder]

Settings-System-Debugging-Enable Debug Logging. In XBMC, yes. Enable it, reboot, then try to replicate the problem. You might also try uninstalling vdpau then reinstalling. An upgrade to the new Nvidia drivers could help too, but I'm just taking shots in the dark right now.

[locohost]

Settings-System-Debugging-Enable Debug Logging. In XBMC, yes. Enable it, reboot, then try to replicate the problem. You might also try uninstalling vdpau then reinstalling. An upgrade to the new Nvidia drivers could help too, but I'm just taking shots in the dark right now.

Ok, I'll re-test with debug logging on.

I installed the 195 NVidia drivers. There is a 256 version I think, but I got an error when I tried installing that one.

I definitely appreciate your advice

[FireMan]

How do I do that? Is that an XBMC setting?

Hi,

It is a XBMC option, to log with more details: http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Log..._Debugging

EDIT: you can try NVidia 260.xx. Is a much better driver for video on TV!!

Cheers.

[speed32219]

Try this.

sudo apt-get install libvdpau-dev

[locohost]

Try this.

sudo apt-get install libvdpau-dev

Thanks, but this gets installed when you follow the XBMCbuntu installation steps. See the link in OP

[locohost]

Hi,

It is a XBMC option, to log with more details: http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Log..._Debugging

EDIT: you can try NVidia 260.xx. Is a much better driver for video on TV!!

Cheers.

When doing the XBMCbuntu intall, I don't remember seeing 260 as one of the NVidia drivers to install. I'm pretty sure it was ... 190, 195, and then 256 versions. I tried 256 and it errored. So 260 is just released?

Thanks!

[cowfodder]

Yeah, the 260 drivers are newer. I'm not entirely familiar with the install process you followed, but you could try this.

Code:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install nvidia-current libvdpau1

That should get you the 260 drivers, and reinstall vdpau for you if needed. I'm using the 260 drivers now, and they work a lot better than the 195 ones. Less dropped frames, less memory used, and seem to be a little more efficient in GPU usage.

[locohost]

Yeah, the 260 drivers are newer. I'm not entirely familiar with the install process you followed, but you could try this.

Code:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install nvidia-current libvdpau1

That should get you the 260 drivers, and reinstall vdpau for you if needed. I'm using the 260 drivers now, and they work a lot better than the 195 ones. Less dropped frames, less memory used, and seem to be a little more efficient in GPU usage.

Thank you!!

I still haven't done the debug mode test yet on the PC. I unhooked the PC and reconnected the old reliable XBox/XBMC the other day so we could watch movies

[locohost]

I noticed something the other night when hooking up the XBox/XBMC that made me think about this post for a minute...

When I first played a DVD to test the setup, it hesitated/stuttered ever so slightly a couple times. So I thought I'd better reset the switch that's in the media cabinet. The DVDs played smooth from there forward. It's a cheap plastic Linksys 5-port gigabit switch feeding the various boxes in the cabinet. All my other switches on the LAN are Netgear gigabit. Are Linksys switches known to be crap? Or do you have to reset all switches on some schedule/event?

Thanks again for the replies